The Powerful Virtue -A Forgotten Sunnah

“The rights of one Muslim over another are six… When he is sick, visit him.”

– Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (Sahih Muslim)

The Six Rights in Full

The hadith names visiting the sick as just one of six specific rights owed between Muslims: returning the greeting of salaam, accepting an invitation, giving sincere advice when asked for it, responding when someone sneezes and praises Allah, visiting the sick, and attending funerals. What’s notable is how ordinary most of these are — they aren’t rare, dramatic obligations, but everyday social courtesies elevated to the level of rights owed to one another. Visiting the sick sits among them not as an exceptional act of piety, but as a baseline expectation of how Muslims are meant to treat each other.

The Six Rights in Full

The hadith names visiting the sick as just one of six specific rights owed between Muslims: returning the greeting of salaam, accepting an invitation, giving sincere advice when asked for it, responding when someone sneezes and praises Allah, visiting the sick, and attending funerals. What’s notable is how ordinary most of these are — they aren’t rare, dramatic obligations, but everyday social courtesies elevated to the level of rights owed to one another. Visiting the sick sits among them not as an exceptional act of piety, but as a baseline expectation of how Muslims are meant to treat each other.

One of the most beautiful yet often neglected of these six is to visit those who are unwell. It’s not just a social gesture — it’s an act of mercy, love, and reward.

Why This Sunnah Matters

• It strengthens brotherhood and empathy — showing up in person, or even remotely, when someone is at their most vulnerable says something a message sent at a convenient time doesn’t.
• Brings comfort to those in pain, since illness is often as isolating as it is physically difficult, and a visit interrupts that isolation directly.
• Earns you du’a from angels and the sick person — a reward structure that runs in both directions, benefiting the visitor as much as the person visited.

Simple Ways to Revive This Sunnah

Even a short call, message, or prayer for a sick person counts as following this Sunnah. It doesn’t require a hospital visit or a large time commitment to count — checking in, asking genuinely how someone is doing, and following up rather than asking once and moving on all fall within this. Pairing a visit or message with sincere du’a for their recovery connects naturally to what we’ve written about making dua for others in their absence — a sick friend or relative is exactly the kind of person this Sunnah is built for.

Reflection: Is there someone sick in your circle? Reach out to them — even if just for a quick prayer or call.